Helen, a Scottish regular visitor to Tenerife, said she had always felt welcome on the island, but could understand how frustration was building among locals who typically work in the tourism sector for 1,200 euros a month.
“I think the government should address these concerns and not dismiss them as just a few cranks. Otherwise, the situation probably will escalate,” she told The Telegraph.
The Spanish archipelago off the coast of north-west Africa has been drawing British and European tourists in droves for decades, and the sector accounts for 40 per cent of the local economy.
While there have long been grumblings over the high number of visitors, this Saturday is the first time there will be a cross-island coordinated protest movement to call for fewer arrivals.
“We have the feeling that we are not living off tourism; it is tourism that is living off us,” said Gabriel González, a councillor for the hard-Left Podemos party in Tenerife’s southern resort town of Adeje.
In the past week there have been protests in La Laguna, Tenerife, and six members of the “Canarias se agota” group (“The Canaries are wearing out”) have gone on hunger strike.
Testy exchanges have also been reported by foreigners and hospitality staff as a result of the tensions.
“We pay your wages,” one foreign tourist reportedly wrote on a restaurant bill after receiving curt service.
